How Teens Do Research in the Digital World
Purcell,
Kristen; Rainie, Lee; Heaps, Alan; Buchanan, Judy; Friedrich, Linda; Jacklin,
Amanda; Chen, Clara; Zickuhr, Kathryn
Pew Internet & American Life Project, November 1, 2012
This is a timely and relevant article that presents research
on how adolescents are performing research in today’s increasingly digital
world. The primary research comprised of
survey responses and focus groups of over 2,000 middle and high school teachers
with the majority of respondents from the Advanced Placement and National Writing
Project communities. The diverse sampling
of American educators provided some interesting results which were positive but
also alarming. Positively, 77% of teachers
say today’s internet and digital search tools have had a mostly positive impact
on their students’ research habits. They
also cite greater access to a broad and deep pool of information in a variety
of formats including multimedia.
However, teachers raise important changes that can be argued
as concerning consequences of today’s technology. Two thirds of respondents say that digital
technologies distract students more than they help academically. Specifically regarding research, teachers
cite an overdependence on search engines relative to other sources like online
databases, credible news sites, printed materials or reference librarians. They also worry that many students are not
taking the effort nor have the skill to judge the quality of online
information. Many teachers are now spending
time to educate students how to assess the reliability of online information because
students have displayed a tendency to accept such information without verifying
its accuracy. One respondent commented “Students
cut and paste without reading or evaluating the information."
To help students perform better research beyond just “googling”,
teachers are directing students to specific, credible online resources and
requiring a variety of sources that includes online and offline. While these efforts will enhance this
generation’s research skills, one teacher remarked “Students generally think of
‘research’ as looking up a topic using the minimum number of resources required
for the assignment and then paraphrasing (if they're not outright plagiarizing)
what they say.”
Technology has definitely changed the way adolescents have
approached research at a rapid pace. A
chief concern by the responding teachers is that today’s middle and high school
students are not developing an adequate ability to think critically about the
research findings they are getting with relative ease through a search engine. With rapidly changing resources, needs and
habits, today’s curriculum standards need to support the focus on critical
thinking and problem solving skills throughout the education of this generation. While students now have the benefit of
accessing information on demand from virtually anywhere, they are missing out
on learning critical research skills that had promoted lifelong problem solving
skills. One quote from this research that
captures this disturbing trend states, “Students have become more lazy about
research, relying on the first selection of sources, rather than digging deeper
into subject matter.“
Thank you for sharing this article.
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